


Curiosity Killed the Bat

by TrueTattoo



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Claspers, Cloaca, M/M, Non-Human Genitalia, Rut, Rutting, Spawning, Water, Water Sex, mermaid, mermaid au, merman, vampire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-28 03:36:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20771888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrueTattoo/pseuds/TrueTattoo





	Curiosity Killed the Bat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [embeer2004](https://archiveofourown.org/users/embeer2004/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The barber surgeon and the sea creature](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18819409) by [embeer2004](https://archiveofourown.org/users/embeer2004/pseuds/embeer2004). 

Dettlaff and Dandelion had set off at sunset, which was happening earlier and earlier now as the weather began to cool. Dandelion had insisted that Dettlaff needed to get out, come to a tavern, find a girl, lay into her for a bit. Dettlaff had been incensed, but then oddly ponderous. The two of them had set out, and had left Regis behind with a book on merfolk that Dandelion had brought back a few days ago, Regis insisting that he was far too shy for what they were up to. Dandelion had protested loudly, but then Dettlaff came to his rescue, insisting that Regis was indeed somewhat bashful, and that joining them would make him uncomfortable. Regis smiled, thanking his friend for that, and turned back when they finally hit the valley, to clean and set out some of the herbs he had gathered that day.

It had been, well, wonderful, now that Gwynbleidd was somewhat recovered. He was healing well, and in general Regis had begun to appreciate the somewhat sly nature of the merman now that he had gotten to know him a bit better. He had begun hunting on his own now, heading out when the tide was low, and heading back in again when the tide reached its peak and flooded the grotto. He had set out several things within the water, brewing stands, using heated rocks to create concoctions that made little sense to Regis. In the end though, he was preparing. His brother, their youngling, and the father of his order would be on their way, set to arrive in a week or so. And Gwynbleidd was beside himself with excitement.

Something else began to happen too, something that Regis had missed terribly. And now, he could hear it. Singing, longing and beautiful, came from the Grotto’s entrance and hit the window of the kitchen of the small hut. As always, it entranced Regis, and brought about an aching fondness. Settled that all his chores were done, he picked up a book and began to head down the path to the cave, dodging around the mist-slicked rocks with practiced ease.  
  
When he slipped into the cave, the sight was breathtaking. Gwynbleidd had gathered all sorts of glowing mosses, coral, sea plants, and fish, and had brought them into the grotto, and the strange colors glowing from the water cascaded over the surfaces, making them look surreal and alien. It was beautiful, and every time Geralt had brought back some other strange specimen to make this place into his home instead of a refuge, Regis found himself fascinated.

He was making a nest, the merman had informed him. A nest for his family. Regis had thought it quaint, but something began to tickle at the back of his mind when he saw Geralt splayed out on a rock covered with blood moss. The merman was singing. The tone of the song had changed, just slightly, and Regis was having difficulty settling on the meaning of the words. Because their whole language was based around song, a lot of the context was in the tones and such. Whole words switched meaning, depending on tone and clarity.

He listened for a few moments, watching as Gwynbleidd writhed on the rock in the distance, his tail coming up and his fins flaring for a moment before he shifted his position. His eyes caught Regis’ and Regis smiled slightly, before opening his book. He had just gotten through a chapter on culture, and now was delving into the subject of actual merphysiology, which Regis was very curious about. He knew a lot from just observing Gwynbleidd, but there were gaps in his knowledge, and Regis was curious as a base state of being.

He felt eyes on him as he started the chapter. He looked up and smiled, and Gwynbleidd splashed his tail, his tone changing again. Regis blinked and shook his head, and began to read. It was a simple explanation, mostly speaking of the limbs and organs of the merfolk, and it was accompanied by an illustrated anatomy chart.  
Regis looked at the chart and smiled. Some were obvious: the breasts, the mouth, the fins… but others were not. Regis frowned as he looked at the merfemale, and the small slit that was hidden by her anal fins. It was labeled ‘cloaca’. Like a bird? Regis made an amused noise, then looked at the mermale. He frowned a bit. Claspers? And a cloaca? Regis frowned and looked up. Indeed, Gwynbliedd had claspers; he was lounging on the rock and they were on full display. He was looking at Regis and singing still. He had yet to come over to great him, which was a surprise, and his fins were still splayed out. Also slightly surprising, considering that he normally kept them closed and tight unless he was agitated, or he was sunning himself. Claspers then? Only males had them.

Regis began to read further. The book talked about gills, the purpose of certain fins, and the general appearance of the merfolk. He was so absorbed into his reading, and only glanced up when the quality of the sound changed. Regis balked, Gwynbleidd was in the water, his hair splayed around his face and his nose and mouth below the surface. He looked like a sea-wraith, the glowing foliage under the water lighting up his skin. His eyes were glowing slightly, and they were locked to Regis’ own. Regis realized he hadn’t even heard him slip back into the water, and that in and of itself was worrying, but the look the merman had on his face was even more so.

“Hello.” Regis said, and the singing stopped momentarily. “Sorry if I disturbed you. I love the way you sing, as you well know, and I have this book. I wanted to read it, and your…” He was rambling. He shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck where an embarrassed blush was trying to make itself known.  
“I am not disturbing you, am I?” Regis asked.

The merman shook his head no softly, causing his hair to ripple beneath the water.

“Do you want me to leave?”

A more fierce shake, and then Gwynbleidd’s fins splayed out, even the one on his head, which he generally kept down unless he was actively swimming. Regis eyed him for a moment, watching as his hands and his tail lazily moved to keep his head level. The water was barely moving.

Regis cleared his throat and looked back down to his book. The next pages were going over the female system, and it was fascinating. They had live births, much like sharks or land animals, and they suckled like mammals. They shared many traits with fish, but also traits of the elves, and it was, well it was beyond interesting to see the strange intercrossing between them.

When Regis flipped the page, it came to males. He swallowed inadvertently, and began to read. Standard things: males tended to be more extravagantly colored, tended to take longer to reach maturity. But then he got into the interesting bit: the claspers. Regis thought back to Gwynbleidd sprawled on the rock, and he felt his face heating up slightly as he read the description.

It was scientific and tactfully to the point. The claspers were his sex organs. Normally kept hidden by fins, they were only displayed while traveling great distances when the pelvic fins were necessary for navigation, and under one other circumstance. The mention of that circumstance pointed him to a different part of the book for mating displays, and Regis quickly turned the pages, the back of his neck prickling as he did so.

When he landed on the pages he wanted, his knees drew up automatically and he brought the book closer to his face.  
“Often times it has been written that the female merfolk are the ones that put on the most lavish displays, as there have been many instances of them drowning men that have gotten close. That is an unfortunate side effect of the females being very capable fighters, and such male species being very non-discrete when it comes to their mating habits. Generally, it is the male of the merspecies that puts on the biggest display. Their fins are larger, more colorful. Males usually go into rut in the fall season, and much like humans or elves, they can mate with whomever they desire, as well as whenever, but in general the fall is the time of spawning. Usually this period is denoted by the collection of nest items. Merfolk have a fondness for items that glow and sparkle, or that are useful; they will collect nesting items for comfort, such as blood moss or kelp, and occasionally they will even get ahold of human items such as blankets and cloaks, and mattresses from boats that have sunk, or that were thrown overboard. Males become aggressive, both territorially and sexually, especially if they have someone they are fond of to mate with. Be wary if you stumble upon a nest.”

Regis swallowed and thought back to the previous couple of days. Gwynbleidd went into and out of the Grotto at an alarming rate, frantic almost, and his song… his song had changed. Regis looked up, and actually yelled out loud. He attempted to scramble backwards, which did little other than kick a few foot-full of sand up. He shielded his face with the book and peered over it.

Gwynbleidd was right in front of him. Regis hadn’t heard him! He was up on the shoreline and staring at Regis with an intensity that made him want to mist away into a far off corner. “Reejus…”

Regis drew the book up till it was pressing physically on his nose; the smell of ink and paper filling his senses. Hiding his blushing cheeks. He felt like he had been caught with his hand down his pants.

Gwynbleidd’s eyes were intensely glowing, and his cheeks held a red hue to them that matched the color pulsing brightly through his fins. More telling however, were the gills that lined his neck and the bottom of his ribs, all of them were a bright red color. Normally they were barely visible, but they looked like stripes, a signal. The book in Regis’ hands was plucked away and the merman looked at it. Regis drew his knees up further and felt awkward and ungainly as the merman looked at the page he had been looking at.

Oh, there was no way that it could be misconstrued now, Regis thought to himself mournfully.

Gwynbleidd was grinning and pointed straight to his claspers. “Curious?” He spoke, placing the book down.

Regis couldn’t help it as his head nodded without his express permission.

A violent shudder went through the merman and then he slithered up to Regis. Warm damp skin pressed into the fabric of Regis’ pants. Gwynbleidd rolled slightly as he slithered up beside and over his legs, and sure enough he was displaying himself. The red pelvic fins created a perfect framing for the claspers, which were pale, thick, and long.

Regis was frozen, looking at them. Truth be told there was some sort of strange disconnect, he didn’t actually really know what he was looking at other than that they were called claspers, and they were used in mating.

Gwynbleidd groaned now, and Regis felt the merman’s whole body roil with tension. Regis looked to the merman and watched his eyes roll and his breath come in short pants.

“You are in pain… let’s… let’s get you back into the water…” Regis started, but curiosity was burning him now. Curiosity and not the tiniest amount of arousal, which was currently grinding painfully against his belt.

“Touch me Reejussss…”

Regis had always loved the way Gwynbleidd said his name. But now… the husky cast of his voice deepened by… whatever this was – rut? spawning? – echoed through his whole body. His mouth went dry, and he felt the merman’s webbed hand take his. He watched in horrified fascination as Gwynbleidd guided his hand down to the merman’s belly and pushed down. Regis allowed his fingers to glide on the soft skin there, and it was skin, and it was so silky Regis wanted to pause to just play with it. It glided under his fingers, feeling fragile, like silk. That’s when one of the claspers swiveled upwards, and Regis realized it was somewhat prehensile. He felt the hand guiding his push him towards the thing, so Regis moved, and felt along the appendage.

The reaction was immediate. Gwynbleidd moaned and his clawed hands tightened on Regis’ wrist. Regis blinked, and then looked down to study the appendage. It seemed smooth, but there was a layer here, like everywhere on the merman, of protective fat, hiding the true structure underneath. He squeezed it, feeling the ridges hidden below the surface, and then he ran his fingers all the way to the tip. Regis frowned as something appeared on the tip from a small slit. He gathered it up and broke away from Gwynbleidd’s hand and gave it a sniff.

His body reacted physically then, and he looked down at the clasper, which was quivering, and more of the slimy substance was leaking from the tip.

“That’s your…?” He didn’t get a chance to answer before Gwynbleidd arched up and captured his mouth in a kiss. Regis groaned into it, overwhelmed now. Up till this point he had just been fascinated; fascinated, and hoping to share a deep friendship.

Regis’ hands found their way to the merman’s body of their own accord, seemly knowing exactly what they wanted, while Regis’ head swam and spun in on itself mercilessly. Gwynbleidd took it as an invitation and pressed himself up against Regis fully. Regis could feel his gills open under his fingers; he could feel the smooth muscle and the armored scales. The scars too, and then he felt the fins, alien, unique. He had wanted to touch them so badly outside of a medical context, to stroke them, to feel the bright red skin that laced between the bony structures. His hand followed the one that arched up Gwynbleidd’s back, noting that it flexed and pulled any time Regis hit a spot that was more sensitive than the others, and then finally into Gwynbleidd’s hair. He pressed up against him now. Kissing him, tasting the salty water on his lips as they crashed together.

A hand pressed against his front and Regis moaned as the kiss broke off, and Regis found himself clinging to the merman as he pressed against the hardness that took up space between Regis’ legs. There was a curious look in those golden eyes and the curiosity led to hands trying to strip him of his clothes.  
"Why me?" Regis watched, his hands shaking as the merman began to work the buttons on the front of his gambeson. The merman was shuddering for a whole different reason, and Regis couldn't help as he ran his fingers across the soft skin of his stomach.

"You… you kept me company." Gwynbleidd admitted. "I… I was lonely… and then…" The blush across his cheeks burned fiercely. "My song…" he whispered. "You hear it… and you respond to it." He finally opened up his overcoat and slid it down Regis’ shoulders. "You… you hummed it back… my song."

Regis thought back to the night on the Giants’ Toes where he found himself humming to the merman, and how excited he’d been then. Fate, it seems, wove a strange tale. Gwynbleidd reached for the opal buttons on Regis’ tunic, but his fingers slid off with the damp.

"Trust you… your smell… you smell good."

Regis honestly felt he was going to burst out of his skin as the merman’s nose brushed his neck and the fins of his ears brushed his lips.

"Want you… need… Nggggg." The merman flopped over, writhing in the sand.

Regis’ eyes slid down his form as he twisted, sand sticking to his scales. Gwynbleidd’s claspers were engorged now, their tips were just as red as the end of his fins, and Regis could smell arousal on him. The merman’s fingers traced his own fins and then cupped in between his claspers. Cloaca. Regis’ brain helpfully supplied as he watched the fingers stroke over his claspers and then delve into the slit between them. He hesitated for a moment before working the buttons on his front himself, tearing his eyes away from the site to focus for a moment.

"Please…."

"Let up, Gwynbleidd… get back in the water, you are uncomfortable." The weight slithered from Regis’ lap, leaving him damp and somewhat chilly.  
  
A sad look passed the Gwynbleidd’s face, but he did as he was told and slipped back into the water.

Regis took a moment to catch his breath. Was he going to do this? Could he do this? His body shuddered as he ran his own hand down his length and shifted it so it would stop rubbing painfully on his belt. His body wanted it, that much was obvious. And Gwynbleidd, heh, he wanted it as well. Regis looked up as he worked his buttons. He was watching Regis now, and Regis couldn’t help the shudder that ran through him. He took in a deep breath and nodded to himself. It was rare that he got the courage to truly enjoy himself, and right now seemed like one of those rare times. He was going to do this! He was going take the small amount of courage he had and…

He turned to mist, his clothes landing in a crumpled pile next to the book. He watched as Gwynbleidd’s eyes widened and the merman hissed, his face momentarily changing. Regis reappeared and the reaction on Gwynbleidd’s face was priceless.

"One?"  
Regis laughed then. The sound light and echoing softly through the cave. There was a vague disappointment, or maybe it was sadness? Maybe, Gwynbleidd thought he had lost one? The thought amused Regis more than it should have. "Like a dolphin or whale, yes…"

Gwynbleidd dipped under the water then, blowing bubbles as he did.

Regis tracked him and stepped forward. He felt amused that the differences in their anatomy seemed to flummox the merman. He let the cold water surround his feet as he waded in, his body shivering with the contrast in temperature. He waded out to his knees and realized he had lost track of the merman. He looked around then settled down, crouching to his knees in the soft sand. "I am sorry if that…"

Two eyes popped up in front of him, looking at him piercingly.

Regis felt wholly out of his element. "I am sorry if that is a disappointment to you?" It had come out as a question, because Regis spotted his fins. The fins were down laying flat against Gwynbleidd’s head. Regis smiled and let his fingers trail through the water, watching the little ripples and streams as he did so. He looked up and saw the fins shuddering. Then he looked into Gwynbleidd’s eyes. He saw the slitted pupils begin to dilate and the water around the merman vibrated.

He didn't get a chance to do anything else. Regis was grabbed, a powerful body coiling around him. He let off a garbled squawk before his head went under the water. He struggled, but it was useless; he was being pulled. Suddenly all those stories of men drowning at the hands of mermaids made a lot of sense. He coughed and the air went out of his lungs. He didn't need it, but the salty rush of his first breath of water was disconcerting and the instinctual struggle as his environment was changed caused him to thrash.

The thrash turned into an arch as his blurred vision created a cacophony of visual nonsense. And then hands and a mouth, so much warmer than the water around him, began to seemingly touch him everywhere at once. He would have moaned, but found instantly that no sound could make it past his vocal cords. He clicked automatically, the secondary bones within his throat that allowed him to echolocate chittered; they didn’t need air to work, but the chittering echoed around the cave and Regis found himself instantly overwhelmed as an image of nonsense echoed back at him.

The hands didn’t stop though, and the mouth… that delicious mouth. Regis had gotten disoriented and had no idea which way was up. His vision was blurry, but he was trying to adjust it to see. The glow of the cave, the sounds, deep and echoing and so… so very many… filled him. His body began to get overwhelmed, and panic filtered to the forefront. He found himself changing without meaning to.

Gwynbleidd stopped only long enough to run his hands down the sensitive skin of Regis’ patagium.  
“Fins!” He shouted excitedly. Then he leapt off of Regis and made a call.

Regis felt his head brush sand and then used it to flip himself back around. His wings had come out, and his hands and feet had lengthened. His stubby tail made an appearance too. This apparently pleased Gwynbleidd enough that he darted up to the surface, nearly thirty feet up, and leapt out of the water, whooping. The speed with which he moved in the water was disconcerting. He slithered around Regis twice before nuzzling into him, and Regis made an effort to use his wings to balance himself in the water.  
All of his efforts were in vain as Gwynbleidd’s hand closed around his cock. His legs and arms flashed outwards, and his wings did as well, but Gwynbleidd had locked his tail and his wing-fins around Regis. He shouldn’t have been surprised, but the claspers… clasped against his thigh, and the soft movements of Gwynbleidd’s muscles as he explored Regis’ body shot heat through him.

The water around them seemed warm, and Regis was literally weightless, wrapped tightly and held as the merman fondled him.

“Changed… from the shore.” Gwynbleidd said, running the webbing between his fingers along the ridges. “Spikes?”

Shit, Regis forgot about those. He found his hand guided down to Gwynbleidd’s body and was surprised to feel a spike there as well.

“We can get… ah… feisty. Can be hard to hold down.” Gwynbleidd said, demonstrating by circling around Regis. “It lets us stay attached…”

For once in his life Regis couldn’t talk. He clicked again and had to willfully turn his ears off to try to not try to understand the underwater echoes. Gwynbleidd was amused, and he stroked Regis’ face and ran his hands through his hair… which was floating every which way. He must have looked in a state. Then he kissed him again. This time Regis brought his own wings forward and clung to the slippery merman, holding him in place. Ah! Much easier. He still felt weightless and floating, but now it really didn’t matter, he was anchored, and whatever he did caused Gwynbleidd to moan into his mouth. He shifted his position, and Regis gasped when the claspers tugged at him.

This felt better than he imagined, and he had wanted close contact like this for so long. He reveled as Gwynbleidd began to sing again, and wished with everything he was that he could sing back. The song was low and it was beautiful. Soon he found lips against his throat, and an idea struck him. He began to move his mouth and throat, mimicking the movements that would be needed for singing had he been on shore.

Gwynbleidd broke away and looked at him… humming, and Regis looked back, moving his throat as he did so. Gwynbleidd’s expression changed, and he placed his thumb along side Regis’ throat and continued to sing. His eyes closed, and sound burst out around Regis. There were others, somewhere in the distance, and then Regis gasped in the water. The whales.

The whales began to sing as well, their haunting vocals reverberating through the waters, then Gwynbleidd opened his eyes. Raw emotion was there. He was singing, and Regis was mouthing the words, he knew this song! It was the first song the merman had sang. A song of the water and the sky forever touching, but unable to meet. It was longing and lonely, but then, the sky picked up the water, willing wind to bring it to them. A tempest was born, the sky and water were in love, the sea bucked up into the sky, and the sky took the sea within it, and spun it around in a dance. They made love, and their love was strong enough to carve the land. Lips were on his and Regis clung to the merman, his wings holding him as tight as he dared, and his hands running through the silky strands of white, as they claimed each other’s mouths.

The merman pulled away for a moment to guide Regis’ legs, and then his hand was on Regis’ length once again. He was guiding him, and when the merman arched, Regis sunk into him and pulled Gwynbleidd to him as he entered him. Regis felt fins on him, clinging, pulling, and then Gwynbleidd began to rock against him.

The spikes flared out, locking them together, and Gwynbleidd arched as Regis clicked. Then they crashed together once more. Muscles began to squeeze around Regis, and pleasure and heat roared through him. He watched as Gwynbleidd arched and called out, his claspers stroking along Regis’ thighs and squeezing his length. Regis began to get overwhelmed again as they tilted, and his wings shot out, forcing them into a tumble within the water.

A powerful squeeze and then the feel of water moving made Regis arch against him, as he was squeezed and stroked. Buried within Gwynbleidd. The change of position made the merman call out as something internally was stroked, and then Regis looked up. Gwynbleidd’s fins were out, vibrating within the water, and he pushed Regis to the bottom, holding him there with powerful strokes from his tail. Movements became frantic, and Regis’ head was spinning as teeth and tongue traced his skin. He was getting close… so very close. Regis’ skin began to glow, and his spots began to light up.

Gwynbleidd moaned in pleasure, then keened in delight, running his hands down Regis’ neck. The merman keened, and then a powerful burst of sound buffeted Regis. It tore through him, vibrating to his core; it was pleasure incarnate, and Regis’ legs locked around him. The sound increased and Regis’ nerves lit up with pleasure.

Gwynbleidd was rolling, roiling, and his tail lost its rhythm, sending them both tumbling. Claws locked onto Regis, and a howl of pleasure echoed through the water as muscles began to spasm around Regis.

Regis thrust into the heat and then felt his vision burring once again as pleasure roiled from his neck to his toes. Orgasm washed over him, and he arched his neck, warmth flooding from him as his hips jittered. He barely felt it as teeth closed in on his neck, and Gwynbleidd keened once again. They rolled over into orgasm, and it was long… long and as echoing as the sounds. He watched though pleasure-hazed eyes as Gwynbleidd twisted, and then warmth flooded the water around his thighs. A hazy cloud surrounded them then, and Regis could taste it on the water. Seed. Gwynbleidd claimed his mouth yet again, and Regis wrapped his wings around him once more. His last thoughts, before his overwhelmed and overwrought mind finally quieted, were focused on the song.

The song ended and consciousness finally slipped from Regis when the light pierced through the water and air, and the love of the sea and sky were painted for all to see in a rainbow, bowing over the land and water. It could be seen, but never touched, as it belonged to the air and the sea, but it would be displayed for all as a reminder of the love they shared.


End file.
